There are few better ways to save money and resources than making homemade gifts this season. I myself have endeavored into the unfamiliar territory of cookie jars in order to give some of my loved ones a chance to enjoy my favorite recipes fresh baked at their leisure. But there are a number of original homemade options for gift giving this year, and here are just a few.
Candles: Sites such as
Peak offer great ways to make personalized pieces for gift baskets or on their own. The instructions are very simple and straightforward with helpful pictures to make sure you’re on track. The best part of making these at home is that when you buy the materials you can make your own choices about what goes into your gift. While Peak offers materials to purchase on their site, shopping around may be your best bet when it comes to organic scents and materials.
Mountain Rose Herbs is just one of many companies that sell organic scents for bath and home crafts. Not to mention the use of beeswax as opposed to paraffin wax is an even better way to keep your gifts closer to natural.
Flowers: Even in the winter, flowers can be a wonderful gift to lighten the spirits. Bulb flowers, such as crocus, iris and especially the bright red bloom of the amaryllis can be planted in the fall to achieve blooms in the spring, but planting the bulbs in a shallow flowerpot can force the bulbs early. Kept in the warmth of the indoors, these bulbs can bring spring even in the chill of winter!
Choosing a good flowerpot, or even a normal terra cotta pot and decorating it personally with paint or worn glass is a wonderful way to personalize. Don’t forget cards with care instructions to make sure the bulbs sprout year after year.
Make sure to look up individual care instructions for the bulb you choose.
More Unique Options: While candles and flowers are great for most anyone, more unique gifts can be found online, such as book boxes. You can purchase an old hardback book at your local used bookstore or Goodwill. First glue the main block of pages together and then using an x-acto knife, cut out the interior of the book, creating a unique book box for storing just about anything!
Some personalized gifts also include time or individual skill. Are you an exceptional cook or great at organizing? You can create homemade certificated to be redeemed for your unique specialty. These gifts are especially good not only because they include almost no waste, but because of giving things you are giving your time and patience, which can show love more than any physical gift ever could.
Homemade gifts this season are some of the best options for keeping in the holiday spirit in a more personal, and more environmentally friendly way.
AceFisch |
My Bio & Articles
I am an junior English major/ Philosophy minor at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. Currently I am spending the spring of 2009 studying at the University College Cork in Cork, Ireland.
